Okay, so I thought I'll take a break from my usually 'profound undertones' kind of posts and come to something that is more contemporary. I just watched Page 3. I liked it enough to write about it. So behold... The Review of Page 3...
Most of us in our institute read the second page of the late edition of the Times of India first up in the morning because it contains the gist of the TOI supplement, Delhi Times. (We people here get only the gist because we live 3-1/2 hours away from Delhi and get the entire Delhi times on the 2nd page.) Anyway, that is digressing from what I wanted to say. The point is that the second page gives us the breakfast that we need before actually going to our mess. A nice picture of a Katrina Kaif or a juicy news of Kareena and Shahid making out is enough to shake us out of the slumber. Katrina, Kareena, Rahul Dravid, Vijay Mallya... all Page 3 personalities. Madhur Bhandarkar set out to do just that. That is, showcase these people and trace the lives of the people they affect.
The result. A brilliant collage of life and people. Rarely do I agree more with the reviews that TOI dishes out but this film not only is a painting that puts the upper class in its true place, it also reaffirms the faith that Madhur Bhandarkar is one of the men who can be depended upon to make movies that use realism as the driving force. The story revolves around 3 women from different walks of life who harbour different professional ambitions while living together. The chief protagonist, a journalist played by Konkona Sen sees herself and people around her drift past parties, relationships and friends in her job as a Page 3 journalist. A world where when a celebrity sneezes, it's news and if a guy isn't in a relationship for long, he is gay. The movie excels in its depiction of almost everything that we hear of associated with filmdom, be it the Casting Couch, drugged parties and child abuse.
Performances-wise, it's Konkona all the way. I loved her in Mr. and Mrs. Iyer and after this, I will thank the lord that atleast there is a female in bollywood who can act. Hope she keeps getting good roles and not get 'commercialised'. Boman Irani essays his roles well and the others do a decent job as well. The strength of the movie lies in the fact that it was very natural in its setting inspite of the glitz... though it could have helped if they had trimmed it down a little, just a little. I don't know how well the movie might perform in terms of commercial success, but I also don't care much about that. If we get some movies of this sort I would only be happy that I get to watch some good cinema. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Before I end the post, here is a stray thought: After seeing the amount of hypocrisy that characters in the movie (and in real life) indulge in, I would be glad to announce that the world has plenty of good people who balance things out and as a result, this earth will survive for another 100 years. After that ofcourse, either the robots or the praying mantis will take over. And I am sure about that.
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Added on 3rd February...
P.S: Upon TT's suggestion, two peformances that I forgot to mention are those by Atul Kulkarni and Sandhya Mridul... great performances. Though Tara Sharma's voice will surely damp her chances to make any headway in Bollywood. She does need a dubbing for her voice. All my hopes to look forward to some good Hindi cinema were quashed yesterday when yet another movie 'Insan'(e) came to the hostel. Man! How can people even sign such movies. Damn! how could I even waste half an hour of my precious time on such movies.
Anyways, watched two movies today, 'The Italian Job' and '40 days, 40 nights'.
